FSU receives $6M to close gap between research and real-world solutions
Summary
Florida State University is one of 18 universities nationwide receiving a first-of-its-kind award from the National Science Foundation that will boost translational research and help scientists scale their work into products and solutions that can ultimately move from the lab into the public sphere.The Accelerating Research Translation (ART) investment provided more than $100 million to 18 teams at academic institutions across the nation. This investment from the National Science Foundation is an exciting step toward realizing our vision.FSUs winning proposal, IGNITE-FSU (Inspiring the Generation of New Ideas and Translational Excellence at Florida State University) lays out an ambitious four-year plan to provide programming and other training opportunities for the FSU and broader Tallahassee community, the creation of mentoring programs for budding entrepreneurs, the launch of new seed funding programs aimed at translational research and new partnerships that support an innovation ecosystem.Universities are uniquely positioned with expert talent, a culture of curiosity, and the complex facilities needed to explore the art of the possible and develop and translate innovation to keep our competitive edge, said Vice President for Research Stacey Patterson. We are excited to work with NSF and our other partners on ART.This award builds upon several policies and initiatives FSU senior leadership has put in motion over the past year to spur entrepreneurship at the university, including: Fast Start, a simplified tech transfer program that will allow FSU researchers to bring their own technology to market quickly. A new partnership with Tallahassee-based incubator Domi Station, allowing greater access to FSUs research and development resources while giving FSU faculty and students the opportunity to work with DOMI businesses on projects and internships.The university also hired the first-ever Associate Vice President for Strategic Partnerships and Innovation, Valerie Landrio McDevitt, who started in December.Im excited to have joined FSU at a transformational time for the university, McDevitt said. This support from NSF is a major boost to that effort.IGNITE-FSU will be rolled out in phases and will include significant programming for students, faculty and staff.